Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district and bankruptcy courts, and the PACER Case Locator via the Internet. PACER is provided by the federal Judiciary in keeping with its commitment to providing public access to court information via a centralized service.

If a case file is still open, you can access it online with PACER and view court records. Both open and closed cases filed on or after December 1, 2003 are available on PACER. The use of PACER will generate a $0.10 per page charge. If your usage does not exceed $15 in a calendar quarter, fees for that quarter are waived, effectively making the service free for most users. Click here to read more about PACER.

For cases outside the Southern District of California, use the U.S. Party/Case Index (national PACER case/party index), which also requires a PACER login and password.

PACER Registration

There is no cost to register for PACER. Click here to register for a PACER account login and password. For assistance with registrations, technical issues, payments, etc., contact the PACER Service Center in San Antonio, Texas at (800) 676-6856 or (210) 301-6440 from 8 am to 6 pm Central Time Monday through Friday. The E-mail address is pacer@psc.uscourts.gov.

PACER Requirements

PACER requires a computer, Internet access, and a PACER login and password.